CORTANA

'Cortana' is a fictional artificial intelligence with female programming in the Halo series of video games. She is voiced by actress Jen Taylor in '' and its sequel, ''Halo 2''. She is also purported to be the author of a series of e-mails identified collectively as the Cortana Letters. Throughout the video games, Cortana assists Master Chief on his missions; she is instrumental in preventing the Halo installations from being fired.
The legendary Danish hero Holger Danske was said to have wielded a sword with the inscription ''My name is Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durendal.'' "Durandal" is an A.I. in the ''Marathon'' series, an earlier work by the same company. ''Halo'' games and associated materials include a number of references to ''Marathon''.

Contents

Character overview

Character history

Halo: The Fall of Reach

Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood

Halo: First Strike

Halo 2

Halo 3

References

External links

Character overview

Cortana is a "smart" artificial intelligence that was constructed from the flash-cloned brain of Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN-II Project. The Doctor's tissue was cloned, and then the synaptic networks became the base of Cortana's processors. The term "smart" means that her creative matrix is allowed to continually expand, unlike "dumb" A.I.s, which have a limited matrix. This grants her the ability to learn and adapt beyond her basic parameters, but at the cost of a limited "lifespan" of only seven years, at the end of which she will literally "think herself to death" (analogous to a human using so much of their brain for thought, rudimentary systems such as breathing are crowded out). An AI can also go rampant, during which they will "sleep" or hibernate. Her primary mission was to assist the Spartans in the capture of the Covenant High Prophets, and then to negotiate either a truce or peace treaty.^[1]
Throughout the games and novels, Cortana maintains the ability to communicate a strong female voice through available communications systems, and, if possible, project a holographic image of herself. In ''Halo'', she projects herself as a woman made of purple light, said to resemble in appearance and personality a younger version of Dr. Halsey.^[2] In ''Halo 2'', her appearance changes somewhat to a similar blue figure with longer hair.
In ''Halo'', the core of Cortana was contained in a disk, which could be inserted into most systems; however, in ''Halo 2'', the MJOLNIR Mark VI armor system the Master Chief wears is apparently equipped to allow her to transfer from system to system with a mere touch of the palm, using the MJOLNIR suit as a de-facto modem.^[3] Cortana was designed to infiltrate any security system, and once she is physically inside, there is little that can stop her from taking absolute control.^[4]
Aside from that, she is seen to be very proficient in the coordination and use of UNSC and later Covenant military hardware. Because one of the UNSC's primary uses of artificial intelligence is to oversee the targeting of point-defense and ship-to-ship weaponry, space navigation, and calculating Slipspace jumps, Cortana can operate ships and space stations by herself. But, for Cortana at least, this is only a secondary function. Cortana was able to command the cruiser ''U.N.S.C. Pillar of Autumn'' to great effect against hostile Covenant space forces over the planet of Reach and the ringworld Halo.

Character history

Halo: The Fall of Reach

Cortana was created from the cloned brain of her creator with the purpose to be a computer expert to the SPARTAN-IIs on an important mission. When the Covenant attack the planet Reach, the Pillar of Autumn jumps with her and the Master Chief onboard.

Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood

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When the Pillar of Autumn arrives at the Halo megastructure, Captain Keyes orders Cortana to be removed from the ship and inserted into the MJOLNIR battle armor of the Master Chief where she remains for most of the rest of the game. She follows the Master Chief through his early missions until she is inserted into the Control Room of Halo where she discovers the existence of the Flood. After the Master Chief retrieves the Index under the instructions of 343 Guilty Spark, he returns to the control room where Cortana stops him from unknowingly destroying all sentient life. She takes possession of the index and becomes a target for 343 Guilty Spark because of this.
Eventually, she and the Master Chief return to the crashed Pillar of Autumn and rig it to destroy Halo. She and the Master Chief escape in a Longsword Fighter and witness the ring's destruction.

Halo: First Strike

Cortana assists the Master Chief and a group of seven humans in capturing a large Covenant ship in order to facilitate a journey back to Earth. During this time she copied and destroyed a Covenant AI, and assimilated its own self-replicating software into her code; however, when she produced copies of herself, they began exhibiting programming errors and self-sustaining copies that flooded the Covenant space station ''Unyielding Hierophant''.

Halo 2

On the first level of ''Halo 2'', Master Chief and Cortana are reunited after events that mimic events on the previous Halo installation. Eventually, Cortana is yet again inserted into the Covenant system and assists Master Chief's hunt for the Covenant leaders. After the installation is deactivated, the Gravemind (an intelligent form of the Flood) speaks to Cortana in verse.
"Silence fills the empty grave, now that I have gone.
But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on.
I will ask, and you will answer."
Cortana replies simply, "Alright... Shoot."

Halo 3

According to a Gamespot review, "Following the abrupt end of Halo 2, it was unclear if Cortana had been corrupted by the Gravemind or had been destroyed altogether."^[5] Bungie used the Cortana character in the Halo 3 demo to give story clues without revealing the story, according to C.J. Cowan, Bungie studio's cinematics director.⁵ The May 2006 announcement trailer^[6] for Halo 3 contains a flickering image of Cortana's face several times while she says the words:
: ''"I have defied gods and demons.''
: ''I am your shield, I am your sword.''
: ''I know you; your past, your future.''
: ''This is the way the world ends."''
One storyboard^[7] listed on Bungie's website also shows Cortana seemingly screaming in pain. Interviews and public announcements by Bungie Studios have implied that something is very "wrong" with Cortana in these scenes. Another image showing Master Chief, when examining the top Left-Hand corner, shows a faint pair of eyes that are unmistakably Cortana's.^[8] The nature of her gaze (malicious, pensive, or otherwise) is not yet known, and may not be known until Halo 3 itself is launched on September 24, 2007.
Significant fan debate sprung up in regards to the "I am your shield, I am your sword" line, where the end of the line was distorted. Some viewers claimed that she was saying "source" instead of "sword" and significant speculation began in regard to this. Bungie cleared this ambiguity up in a Weekly Update, confirming that she was saying "sword".^[9]
The line could be a reference to the Forerunner Sword Worlds and Shield Worlds, mentioned by Dr. Halsey in ''Halo: The Ghosts of Onyx.''
Another line from the Letters is 'I have seen your future', which is similar to the lines Cortana recites in the trailer. She may have gone rampant, as the Cortana letters seem to be written from the viewpoint of Halo 3 (they make references as such).^[10]
In the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta testing, there is an Easter Egg^[11] on the map 'High Ground' where one of the control panels which appears to be a video feed from a room, Cortana's face flashes on the screen for a moment, then the video feed returns.
In the E3 2007 trailer, Cortana is seen in her holographic form collapsing, presumably in pain, as the Master Chief and the Arbiter, as well as a Forerunner Monitor (possibly 343 Guilty Spark) watch on. It is unknown why Cortana was in this state.

References

1. See the novel ''.
2. See the novel ''.
3. 'Cortana:' Put me down on one of those pedestals near the door. [...] Go. It'll be easier to track Truth if I stay in the network. Don't worry, you can pick me up later.
4. 'Cortana:' You wouldn't believe the number of kill systems the Covenant are throwing down around me. Not to worry, it's pretty sloppy stuff. I guess they never expected a hostile intelligence to penetrate their network from the inside.
5. E3 06: Halo 3 announced, plot details revealed Jason Ocampo
6. ?
7. e3 2006 Storyboard picture
8. Halo 3 Scenery with Cortana in Background
9. Bungie Weekly Update May 12 2006
10. The Cortana Letters are viewable at http://marathon.bungie.org/story/cortana.html
11. Video of the Easter Egg.

External links

★ The Cortana Letters